Promises
by Lochar
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto always kept his word, his promise. One promise was to bring back a friend's runaway love. Another was one he would have kept even had he not given it.
1. Chapter 1

Promises

By Lochar

Summary: Uzumaki Naruto always kept his word, his promise. One promise was to bring back a friend's runaway love. Another was one he would have kept even had he not given it.

A/N: I haven't given up on the Pinions series, but blame Matthew of Team 8 and Nightmares of Future Past for dropping a rabid plot bunny on me. More to come on this and Pinions.

* * *

"I promise," Naruto said to the crying girl in front of him, "I'll bring Sasuke back, whether or not he wants to." 

Sakura looked up, tears slowing. "You promise, right?"

Grinning, Naruto mimicked Lee's nice guy pose. "It's a promise of a lifetime!"

"Arigato." Sakura stood a little straighter. "I'll be waiting."

Grinning at her one last time, Naruto was about to turn around to leave when he noticed someone else watching the leaving group from a bit away.

"I'll be back in just a moment!" Naruto called to Shikamaru and the others.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled, seeing who it was, before yelling back at Naruto. "Time is of the essence! Be quick."

Naruto stopped in front of her. "You came to see us off, Hinata?"

Tapping her fingers together, she nodded and looked down. "W-Where are you all going?"

Naruto snorted. "Sasuke-teme ran off last night to join Orochimaru. We're going to go bring him back."

Hinata's face paled as she looked up at him."P-please be careful, Naruto. I-, I mean many people in Konoha would be sad without you."

"Aw, it'll be okay. Shikamaru is so smart he makes me sick sometimes. We'll catch Sasuke-teme and bring him back. I promised Sakura, I would. I won't go back on my word either, it's my ninja way!"

"Ano... Naruto, can you make another promise?"

"Nani?"

She took a deep breath. "Promise to come back safe." With that Hinata turned and ran back inside the gates, her cheeks flaming.

Naruto frowned. She sure was acting strange. "I promise that too, Hinata," he shouted after her.

Hinata, her eyes filled with tears, smiled as she heard Naruto's words. She just hoped it wasn't the last time she heard his voice.

But then again, he always kept his promises, didn't he? It was his, no _their_ ninja way.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Naruto watched as Sasuke broke out of the barrel and started to run away, moving quickly to get out of Fire Country. He looked back at Kimimaro and growled deep in his throat, drawing as deep as he could on the Kyuubi chakra that leaked from his seal.

_**Poor, little boy. You have to watch one promise run away and you're not going to be able to keep your other one with the pitiful amount of my chakra you are able to currently draw from outside this seal.**_

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he watched the Sound ninja, before replying in his mind. _And that means what?_

_**Your promise to the little white eyed one. If you attempt to take on this challenge with the tiny amount of my chakra you have, you won't be going back, much less going back safe.**_

Kimimaro seemed content to just stand there, between him and the rapidly fading from view Sasuke.

_So, I still have to try. I'll keep my promises no matter what, fox._

_**Release part of the seal. Give up part of yourself to me and I can give you enough power to keep your promises.**_

_I'm not releasing you, you'll just try to destroy Konoha again._

_**Stupid child. The Death God seal will not allow me to leave your body, since it was a soul sacrifice. The eight point seal, however, just binds my chakra. Each point binds a gate of my chakra. Release them, and I will grant you my chakra.**_

The conversation so far had only taken moments, so the frown on Naruto's face seemed out of place to Kimimaro. Yet the bone sword wielding man made no movements towards him.

_You can't escape?_

_**As much as it pains me to say it, no.**_

_How do I do it?_

The eight kanji seemed to appear in his mind. **_As many as you wish, dispel. They will go, and my chakra will be available to use._**

Naruto sighed. "It doesn't matter the cost to me. I will come back safe, and with Sasuke." he whispered to himself. "I will keep my promises."

Before he could start removing the seals, Naruto heard a shout. "My rival! What are you still doing here, while Sasuke is not!"

Turning slightly, he saw Rock Lee land next to him. "I will take on this fight, rival Naruto. You must catch up to Sasuke and return him home."

"Fuzzy Eyebrows? I thought you were still hurt?"

"Mere scratches, my rival." Lee took his fighting stance. "Hurry."

"Right." Naruto said, running off after Sasuke.

Kimimaro took a step towards Naruto before being cut off by Lee. "Your opponent stands before you, you might wish to keep an eye on me."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Naruto closed his eyes. Sasuke held him by his shirt, Chidori charged and ready.

_Sasuke, you really don't want to return, do you? And you really mean to kill me._

"You are my best friend, Naruto." Sasuke said. "And now I will break this tie to gain even more strength."

_**You don't have a choice now.**_

_I'm not giving you any more of myself than I have to._ The seal kanji appeared again, and Naruto randomly picked two, dispelling them in his mind.

Immediately, he felt the flare of chakra that were the seals disappearing, before the Kyuubi's chakra replaced the lost feeling. He felt something seem to snap in both his mind and below where the seal was.

Sasuke's arm was racing towards his heart, the chirping attack going straight for the kill.

Naruto's arm flashed toward Sasuke, grabbing his wrist just as the attack started to break skin. Sasuke's hand stopped, his fingernails barely breaking the skin on Naruto.

"What?"

A blue aura flashed around Naruto as he squeezed, crushing Sasuke's wrist in his grip. As Sasuke started to scream, Naruto bent his arm backwards, breaking the forearm to where Sasuke's fingers almost touched the inside of his arm.

Sasuke fell to the water's edge, screaming in pain and holding his arm.

"I told you I will break your arms and legs to keep you from going to Orochimaru. That was one arm."

The cursed seal on Sasuke's neck spread out over his body, quickly covering him. Sasuke managed to shakily stand back up. "I don't know how you managed that, dobe, but it will be the last thing you do." The seal started spreading again, now connecting and covering his entire body turning it an ash gray and turning his hair white. Two huge appendages then thrust their way through the back of his shirt, molding themselves into a gruesome parody of a pair of hands. Sasuke shook his broken arm once, and the arm straightened out. Sasuke gave a grunt but looked to have the use of his arm back.

"Now you will die." Sasuke charged forward, punching out towards Naruto, only to watch the blond boy blur and disappear. Sasuke skidded to a halt on top of the water, looking around. "I didn't see any seals for a replacement." he began.

Suddenly, he was flung forward and bounced off the water before sinking slightly below it. One of the wings on his back grabbed at the top of the water and Sasuke pulled himself back up. Looking back, he saw Naruto standing there, fist still extended from his punch.

"Come home, Sasuke." Was all Naruto said, as he shifted back into a fighting stance.

Sasuke shook his head, chuckling. "I don't know where you might have gotten this power, dobe. But it isn't enough and I'm not going back to those wimps." Sasuke set his hands in the first seal for Chidori, the webbed appendages mimicking him.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at him oddly.

Sasuke made the other two seals, his other two hands doing the same. "Chidori!" he called out. Instead of the attack charging in Sasuke's hand, the energy collected in the hand coming out of his shoulder. The energy quickly took on a black edge and grew, almost completely covering Sasuke with it's aura.

"We've done this once before, Sasuke." Naruto held out his hand, concentrating. "Rasengan!" he called out, chakra solidifying in his hand and spinning around. Then it shrunk slightly, before returning to it's normal size, this time looking almost like a completely solid ball of chakra.

"But this time, I have the power to finish you!" Sasuke dashed forward, Chidori held and ready to attack.

Naruto lowered his head, before dashing forward as well.

Sasuke felt a shift in his mind. _My eyes! My Sharingan can keep up with his movements now!_ Sasuke pushed his Chidori forward at the last moment, meeting Naruto's attack head on once again.

Naruto gritted his teeth and pushed again, feeling the unnatural arm giving way to his attack. Finally, there was a crack and the Chidori faded. Naruto released the Rasengan and grabbed the arm, spinning around behind Sasuke and then grabbing the second arm. "You're coming home, Sasuke." Saying that, Naruto then smashed the two arms together, breaking them. He let go and the things hung limp.

Sasuke screamed and came around with a sweeping kick, catching Naruto and propelling him through the air and into one of the two statues. He peered into the rising dust, waiting.

Naruto jumped from the falling stone and punched at Sasuke.

Sharingan wheeling, Sasuke attempted to grab Naruto's arm and throw him, only to receive the punch into the shoulder anyways, Naruto's strength too much to overcome. Sasuke felt his shoulder seperate.

"Now, brother, I'll show you that those with friends are not weak or worthless." Naruto grabbed hold of the already separated arm and spun him around before throwing him through the other statue.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Kakashi found the two boys amongst the rubble that had been the valley. Naruto was sitting up, watching over the downed form of Sasuke.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Naruto looked over to the Jounin. "I didn't break my promise, but I'm not sure how to carry him back Kakashi-sensei."

"I can carry him back if you are too tired to lift him yourself, Naruto." Kakashi bent down towards Sasuke.

Naruto held up a hand. "Not a good idea, sensei." At Kakashi's puzzled looked, Naruto explained further. "His arms and legs have been popped out of their sockets, and I'm pretty sure I broke every bone in his arms and legs. All the way down to the knuckles."

"The Kyuubi took over?" Kakashi quietly asked.

Naruto gave a harsh, bitter laugh. "He said I was giving up a part of myself so I could keep my promises. But you know, I didn't feel a bit of the Kyuubi's chakra. It was all mine, I think."

"I will carry him then." Another voice said.

Naruto turned around. "Huh?"

Sand slowly lifted the fallen body of Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto spotted the speaker. "Gaara?"

Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, stopping him from standing. "The Sand has remade their alliance with Konoha. He and his siblings have come to help, not hinder."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks for the help then, Gaara."

Gaara returned the nod. "Let us return him to his home."

"Home." Naruto agreed, standing. "I didn't break my promises."

A new voice entered, but this one only Naruto could hear. And for once, the voice held a strange warmth to it, instead of the usual evil overbearing power. **_And I will explain to you what the price was to keep your promises, my kit. And the price is something more than you expected, but less than you might have thought._**


	2. Chapter 2

Promises

By Lochar

A/N: The next Pinions chapter is with my beta. This is unbeta'd. So, as you can see, I wrote this while my beta was working on the next chapter of Stone Pinions. Expect that chapter up some time this weekend.

Chapter 2

* * *

Naruto watched as both Tsunade and Jiraiya inked out seals around the hospital bed. After they'd finished, they stood on either side of the circle and nicked a finger with a kunai, before slamming their hand down on the edge of the seal.

The circle glowed briefly before the seals sunk into the floor, still visible but now looking to be a part of the floor instead of just ink.

"That should do it." Tsunade said tiredly.

"What'd you do, anyways baa-chan?" Naruto asked, puzzlement and worry in his voice.

"It's a containment circle. Sasuke will not be able to leave it. I'm not taking any chances on him running off again." she told him. "We don't know how much of it was his own free will to leave, and how much was the seal pushing him to leave."

Naruto nodded, looking over at the boy he had called brother, right before he'd broken his arms and legs. "So when can we let him out? He's not going to like staying in there."

"As soon as I figure out a way to either contain or break Orochimaru's seal." Jiraiya answered. "Until then though, the med nin's have been told to use only minimal healing jutsu on him. I'll have more time to figure it out if he's still in no shape to attempt escape."

"I guess I understand, ero-sennin."

"Now, we need to check you out as well. I doubt Sasuke just stood there and let you pound on him."

_**No. Not until we have our discussion.**_

Naruto shook his head. "I can't. Not just yet."

Tsunade frowned. "You don't have much of a choice, Naruto. I want to make sure you came out of your battle okay."

"Sorry, but I have to have another conversation first apparently." Naruto looked between his sensei and the Fifth Hokage.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "And who do you have to talk to, that's more important than making sure you won't keel over in the next hour?"

"The Kyuubi." Naruto said, carefully watching the two adults, both of who started at this.

Jiraiya was the first to react. "I don't think that's a good idea. Kakashi told me what you told him."

_Crap. _Putting his hands together in the Ram seal, Naruto quickly shouted, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." and the room and the hallway outside quickly filled with as many Naruto clones as could fit. Each clone quickly did the replacement jutsu and smoke filled the area.

Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at each other before nodding and reaching out for the nearest Naruto, hitting them and making them vanish.

They quickly beat up all the clones, which just stood there and accepted the hits. Quickly they went through them all, only to find Naruto had made good his escape.

"I hope Naruto knows what he's doing." Tsunade said, once she discovered there were no more clones, or Naruto, to be found.

"As do I."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

He sat atop the Hokage monument, looking out over Konoha.

_Alright fox, what was so important that I couldn't let baa-chan and ero-sennin make sure I was alright?_

_**Because kit, they would have discovered something that I would rather you learn from me. Come into your mind so we may talk easier.**_

Naruto closed his eyes and remembered the prison he'd first seen the Kyuubi in. Concentrating on going back there, Naruto slumped slightly as his senses focused inward.

Opening his eyes again, he saw the Kyuubi standing in it's cage, with the Fourth's seal still covering the lock. Although the wall itself seemed to be missing several bars.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"**In your mind, who you are is a reflection of your true self. Look at yourself."** Was the answer he got.

Naruto looked down at himself and let out a yelp. His hands had changed to claws like when he used the Kyuubi's chakra. "What in the world!"

There was a deep chuckle from behind the seal. **"The price of your agreement. In unsealing my gates, I attempted to destroy yours and replace them with mine. I was going to turn you into my host, so I would have a body again."**

"I thought you said you couldn't escape." Naruto looked at the fox, confused.

"**And I can't. But that's not to say I could not turn your body into one more suitable for myself."**

Naruto backed away from the prison. "I'm not unsealing you anymore then. I'm not going to give my body to you."

"**You need not worry about that, my kit. I did not manage that. I give you my word on that as a demon lord. Either I underestimated the seal placed by your fourth Hokage or your own ability, but instead of destroying your gates they blew open and then converted themselves into a demonic version of themselves based upon my own chakra."**

"Nani?"

"**What your sensei referred to as the initial gate and the wonder gate were blown open, expelling all of your human chakra that they had control over. That is the immense energy you had. When they closed, instead of my gates becoming yours, they molded themselves into kitsune gates. One quarter of your own chakra is now kitsune and that is reflected on your body."**

Naruto sat down heavily on the ground. "So now the villagers are right? I really am a demon huh?"

"**Only in part. You are still more human than kitsune, but it still makes you my child. And I will not attempt harm on a child of mine."** The Kyuubi lowered it's head towards Naruto. **"And the influence your own kitsune chakra grants you will only show after much stress on your own chakra, or if you will it."**

Naruto stood back up. "Wonder if my hands are the only thing that changed then? I wish I had a mirror."

He then jumped as a mirror appeared before him. The Kyuubi laughed. **"This is your mind, kit. It is yours to change as you see fit."**

Looking into the mirror, Naruto saw that his eyes had turned a much deeper shade of blue and had vertical slits. "I guess that isn't bad. If I'm fighting, it'd be hard to tell that too much had changed I guess."

"**More will come in time, with your own growth in power. I can still grant you my own chakra to augment yours and you will see my reflection in you."**

Red chakra flowed out from behind the seal and wrapped around Naruto. Immediately, his eyes went red and Naruto could see in his reflection now had a red tail made of chakra. After a moment, the chakra pulled itself back behind the seal.

"**You will find that demon chakra is much stronger than a humans, so your own power and stamina will grow as you gain control over it. Now kit, I think it is time you went back to your hospital. Before your two friends become too worried over what I might do to you."** Another deep chuckle, and Naruto found himself fading out of his mind.

He opened his eyes and found himself again looking out over Konoha. Grinning, Naruto molded his chakra, sending it into his legs as he jumped off the monument.

Landing, Naruto took off at a run, jumping onto a roof and quickly moving back towards the hospital. Tsunade-baa-chan and ero-sennin would hopefully still be waiting for him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Naruto lifted his head from the ground, looking up at the second story window Tsunade had just punched him through. She was looking out the window and staring at him.

"Get back up here, Naruto!" She yelled at him.

"Jeez, you're the one that knocked me out of there." Naruto grumbled as he jumped, sticking half way up the wall with his chakra. Tensing, he jumped again, getting up to the window level and Tsunade grabbed him, dragging him back into the room they had put aside so they could make sure he was okay.

"So, since you're knocking me around, does that mean I'm good to go?" Naruto gave a foxy grin to the two adults.

"Hardly. I know you're still Naruto though, as the Kyuubi would have tried to kill me after that." Tsunade grinned at the boy she considered her little brother. "I still want you to stay here over night to make sure there were no other side effects that the Kyuubi conveniently forgot to tell you about."

"So, let me guess. I get my own containment seal?" Naruto looked at the room.

Jiraiya shook his head. "You came back on your own, even after what you were told. Besides, one seal of that size is enough in a single night."

Tsunade agreed. "I will have an ANBU stationed outside the room though. I would prefer if you would be agreeable enough to not sneak out tonight."

"Alright, baa-chan, but first light I'm outta here."

Naruto had barely managed to finish his sentence before Tsunade had cracked him on the top of his head, sending him to the floor to twitch for a moment. He jumped up, glowering at her. "What was that for?"

Tsunade smiled at him sweetly. "Don't call me that." She then walked out of the room.

Jiraiya just shook his head. "I'm not sure which amazes me more. The fact that you keep calling her that, or that you stand up right after being hit." Laughing, he walked out of the room as well. "We'll figure out a way to remove Orochimaru's influence on Sasuke though, Naruto," was his parting remark.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was a few hours later when Naruto heard a knock on the door leading into his room. Raising an eyebrow, he yelled "Come on in!"

The door opened and several people filed into the room.

Naruto immediately jumped off the hospital bed, scratching behind his head. "Heh, hey guys. I kept my promises." He told the group consisting of Sakura, Hinata, and Shikamaru.

Hinata blushed and Shikamaru nodded. Sakura seemed to be looking at him oddly.

"What's up, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Sakura let out a deep breath. "I don't know whether to thank you, or kill you." She finally said.

Hinata looked at the other girl, confused. "N-Naruto-kun didn't do anything to make you mad, did he Sakura? H-He filled h-his promise to you."

"True." She paused, and then looked at Naruto. "Thank you." She then smacked him in the head, knocking him to the ground.

Naruto climbed to his feet. "Now what did I do?"

Sakura glared at him, before yelling "You broke Sasuke-kun's arms and legs! Multiple times!" before stalking out of the room.

"Okay..." Naruto trailed off, before looking at the other two people still in the room. "Either of you want to hit me?"

Hinata blushed and shook her head. Shikamaru just laughed softly before saying his trademark "Troublesome."

Naruto's face went serious at that moment, as he thought of something. "Hey, how did Neji, Choji, and Kiba make out? I haven't seen them."

Shikamaru sat down in one of the chairs. Hinata sat down as well, focusing on Naruto. "Kiba will be alright. He had to get some stitches, but nothing fatal."

Naruto grimaced. "And Neji and Choji?"

"Neji-nii-san is being operated on now." Hinata said quietly. "Father sent me to check on him and Shizune-sama said he should heal fine. She looked very tired though."

"Choji burned a lot of his chakra, but Tsunade managed to cure him as well. We made it out without losing anyone."

Naruto flopped back on the bed. "I'm glad."

"D-d-do you want us to leave you alone, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

Quickly sitting up, Naruto shook his head. "No, no. I'm completely bored. Tsunade-baa-chan said she wants me to stay here tonight and not leave the room, so I'm stuck. You two wanna keep me company?"

Shikamaru agreed, and after much blushing and nervous tapping of her fingers, Hinata agreed as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Promises

by Lochar

A/N: Another chapter. So sue me, I'm bored this weekend. :)

Chapter 3

* * *

It was a few weeks later when Naruto walked back into the hospital to make his semi-weekly checkup on Sasuke. He'd been unconscious the past few weeks, but baa-chan had said he was just healing and would wake up soon.

Not noticing the increased activity at the nurse's station outside Sasuke's room, he walked in to be surprised to find Sasuke sitting up in his bed, glaring at him.

"Dobe." Was the cold hello he got.

Naruto grinned. "Welcome back to the world of the waking, Sasuke!"

"Not that you care, but I've been awake since yesterday." Sasuke turned his head to look out the window.

Naruto noticed the window was facing the direction that he'd run off to leave Konoha. "You know, we completely destroyed the valley." he started.

Sasuke snorted. "And yet I still lost." He touched the cursed seal on his neck. "If I didn't have enough power to beat you, the dead last, how am I supposed to have enough power to destroy Itachi?"

"With help." Naruto said, his voice saying it was obvious. At Sasuke's glare, Naruto continued. "Hey, even your brother had someone with him for backup. That shark guy, remember?"

Sasuke slumped into the bed. "And you want to be the help, right?"

"Me, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei. We've all been willing to help you. Just about anyone would."

"Ha. Dead last, a girl who had to be protected more than our clients, and a teacher who could only teach because I could copy his moves. What great choices."

"Whatever." Naruto stood up. "If you don't want to accept help, I doubt that baa-chan or ero-sennin will let you out of that circle. And when I become Hokage, I won't let you out either. And then you'll never get stronger. Sasuke-teme." With that, Naruto walked out of the room.

Naruto rolled his eyes when he heard something thump against the now closed door, before walking down the hallway.

Slowing, he noticed a familiar white haired old man attempting to chat up a nurse.

"Ero-sennin."

"Don't call me that! You should call me Jiraiya-sensei." the man spun around saying, as the nurse laughed.

"Sasuke is awake." Naruto said, ignoring Jiraiya's previous comments.

Jiraiya sighed. "I know. I was here yesterday when he woke up. I'm studying how the cursed seal interacts with his chakra."

Naruto's eye twitched. "And you're out here why then? Kinda hard to study it when he's not here." Jiraiya opened his mouth to say something, but Naruto cut him off. "Whatever. Just help him, please?"

Jiraiya closed his mouth before nodding. Turning, he made his apologies to the nurse before walking to Sasuke's room and entering.

"I suppose I should thank you again, Naruto." Sakura's voice said from behind him.

Naruto started, grabbing his head thinking he was going to be hit. When no hit came, he slowly turned around.

Sakura stood there with a half grin on her face, looking between him and Sasuke's room. "I was about to have to ask Tsunade-sama to drag him in there."

Naruto grinned. "Hey, I want him to get better too, Sakura-chan."

Sakura raised her hand to hit him, but then dropped it. "I was going to hit you for putting him in there in the first place, but..." she trailed off, looking to the closed door. "I think he would have physically thrown me out of his room if he could have yesterday. That seal was pulsing then too. I guess you didn't have a choice."

With that, Sakura walked into Sasuke's room as well, leaving Naruto to quizzically look after her before shrugging and walking out of the hospital.

He'd come back again tomorrow and see how Sasuke was doing.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

**A little over a month later**

Naruto sat in the Godaime's office, bored. Sakura sat in another seat while Tsunade sat at her desk and Jiraiya was leaning against the wall, looking out a window.

"And why didn't you tell him the meeting was starting an hour ago, baa-chan? You know Kakashi-sensei never shows up on time." Naruto complained.

Tsunade looked up from the scroll she was reading and scowled, before flinging an ink bottle at him.

Naruto laughed and caught it. "I know, I know. Don't call you that, right baa-chan?"

This time, a paper weight flew at Naruto who ducked as the door opened. The paper weight sailed right into Kakashi's stomach and actually knocked him back out of the office.

Stumbling back in, Kakashi tossed the paperweight to Tsunade. "Sorry, I was-"

Tsunade cut him off. "If you make an excuse about being lost on the road of life, Kakashi, I swear I will make you a genin again, and you will stay one until Naruto becomes your Jounin-sensei."

Kakashi paled, and from behind his mask there was an audible click as he closed his mouth.

"And the same goes for if you are ever late for a meeting I call, ever again." she continued. Kakashi just silently nodded.

"Now, as for why I wanted the three of you here."

"Did you find a way to cure Sasuke?" Two voices said at once.

Jiraiya chuckled at them.

"Unfortunately, what I discovered was that the cursed seal Orochimaru used on Sasuke has completely infected his chakra coils. Removing it from him, unless the snake did it, would destroy Sasuke's coils." Jiraiya's voice was calm, but held a sad tone to it.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Then I'll make him remove it." He cracked his knuckles and jumped up from his seat.

"And where is he then, Naruto?" Tsunade asked. "Lead the way and we will all force Orochimaru to remove it."

Naruto sunk back into his seat, arms crossed and scowling.

"I can split the seal though, but the split part of the seal would require another host so that it wouldn't reform." Jiraiya added. "And the only people that could be the other host, are ones that have a strong link to Sasuke. And since the Uchiha boy has no living family he has no ties there. He has no real friends outside of Team 7 either."

Kakashi nodded. "I don't think I would have a strong enough link to him. I may be his teacher, but I never cultivated a tie with him that strong."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, before a voice interrupted in his mind.

_**You can't do it either, kit. I have very serious doubts about the seal being able to even touch your kitsune chakra and it would probably just dissipate. It would have the same effect as if the old man removed the seal completely from the kid.**_

Naruto closed his mouth, before opening it again and speaking. "I-I can't either."

Tsunade nodded. "Because of the results of your fight with him?" She asked.

"Yeah." He looked at Sakura. "He's still my best friend, my brother even, but something happened when we fought that makes it to where I can't do it. Sorry."

Sakura looked down at her hands in her lap, fiddling with the hem of her shirt for a moment. After a few minutes, she looked up. "I love him." She stated simply. "I told him that when he left, and I told him I'd do anything to help him. If I have to be cursed along with him to help, I'll do it."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sasuke was allowed to see the almost one dozen ANBU that were stationed all around his room, including sticking to the wall outside his window, as Tsunade and Jiraiya dispelled the seal.

He gave them a questioning glance.

"We can't remove the seal, Sasuke, but we can stop it from affecting you." Tsunade said, allowing him to stand and walk past the seal markings for the first time in almost two months.

Sasuke stretched and then turned to face the two Sannin. "So, what exactly are you going to do?"

"We're going to split the seal. Someone else has agreed to bear the other half of it for you."

"Who?" Sasuke looked around, not seeing anyone he knew beyond the two Sannin. "One of the ANBU?"

"No. You'll find out before it's removed. Are you coming, or do we put you behind in a sealed room again?"

"Alright, alright. I'm not going to be locked up all my life. Naruto-dobe managed to point that out." Sasuke quietly followed behind them.

The three people plus their escort of ANBU walked silently downstairs and into the basement, where a very large circle had been inscribed, with many seals written into it. Oddly, there was a separator that hid the far half of the circle.

Jiraiya looked at Sasuke. "We're missing one seal, Sasuke." He handed the boy a scalpel. "In the center, there is a space for a seal. Write the right half of whatever emotion led you to accept Orochimaru's cursed seal in your blood. Write it against the separator so it can connect to the other half of the seal. Then go lay down in the open area and close your eyes."

Sasuke took the scalpel and carefully made his way to the center of the circle. Looking at the open space, Sasuke thought.

What emotion had brought him to the point of accepting the conclusion he'd lose his body eventually? Was it desire? Desire for power?

No. He didn't want power just to have it. He wanted enough power to be able to destroy his brother, in revenge for him destroying their clan. Was revenge an emotion?

No, Itachi had told him that he didn't hate enough to be able to defeat him. So he was after hate then. He wanted to be able to hate enough to destroy his brother. He hated his brother, but it hadn't been enough. He had taken the power in order to hate even himself so that he could have the hate to destroy Itachi.

Nicking his finger, Sasuke drew out in his own blood the right half of the symbol for hate. He then stood up and made his way over to the area they had said to lie down on. He saw an activation seal right near the spot, so someone would be activating the circle right next to him.

Lying down, Sasuke closed his eyes and waited. He heard them move the separator away and imagined someone else lying down in a mirror image of him on the other side of the circle.

Someone moved close to him and Sasuke froze up when a hand was placed on his arm.

"Itachi may be your blood brother, but I am here as your brother to help you along." Naruto's voice was unnaturally quiet as he talked.

The hand was removed, and Sasuke heard four different voices shout something, before there was a large surge of chakra and he felt himself pulled somewhere. He panicked as the sensation was almost like Itachi's Tsukiyomi before he was completely drawn in.

When he was able to open his eyes again he found himself lying on soft grass, in an unknown location. There was someone sitting nearby.

Sitting up, he was shocked at who it was. "Sakura?"

The girl smiled softly at him. "Hi Sasuke-kun."

"So, what? You want a piece of the power of Orochimaru? Is that why you volunteered to be the other for this?" Sasuke laughed. "Because you're pretty weak otherwise."

Sakura shook her head. "No." She looked around. "And this is how your mind is. It's so sad."

Sasuke looked at the surrounding area. "If this is a reflection of my mind, I don't think it's bad. Open fields, grass, there's no cities but I guess if it's just my mind, I don't need one."

"No, Sasuke. You're seeing my mind. I think Tsunade-sama said it was viewing the world through someone else's eyes. What is see is a desolate wasteland, devoid of life. The seal here is destroying everything you are." Sakura explained. "In this meeting, Jiraiya-sama set it to where we could not lie."

"I don't care." Sasuke shouted. The air seemed to quiver at that, and the land around him seemed to die off slightly. The sun in the sky seemed to take a darker hue as well. He then looked at Sakura. "I require that power to destroy Itachi. That is why my half of the seal was hate. I must have enough hate to destroy him."

"If that is what you want, I will help you there as well. But..." Sakura looked at something, but Sasuke couldn't tell what. "What about the Uchiha clan? You will destroy your brother, and then Orochimaru will destroy you. And then your clan will be gone."

Sasuke paused, not sure how to answer that and unable to unequivocally say he did not care. Some part of him still did care about his clan so he could not lie and say he didn't.

"I told you before you left that night, Sasuke. I love you. I want you to stay with us and we can work together to bring Itachi to justice. But if you wish to leave, I will leave with you. And we can both be destroyed by Orochimaru. You will keep the seal and I will follow you."

Growling, Sasuke looked up at the sky. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. I did not mind destroying myself, if that was what was required to take down Itachi. But I was supposed to be the only one to go."

Sakura stayed quiet during this.

After a moment, Sasuke looked back at her. "Fine. Split the seal. I'll find a way to have my revenge on Itachi without killing myself. Happy?"

Sakura's grin seemed to light up the whole area. Suddenly there was a shaking and the whole area went dark.

When the light returned, both looked up to see something truly strange.

"The left half is the sun, the right half is the cursed seal?" Sakura asked.

"I see the opposite. The left half is the seal, and right half is the sun." Sasuke said.

Before they could question it further, Sasuke felt himself being pulled again. Closing his eyes, Sasuke felt himself begin to spin and fall.

He opened his eyes to find Naruto's face peering down at him.

"Ugh, definitely not something to wake up to, dobe." Sasuke pushed him away and sat up.

Immediately, he was surrounded by ANBU. Yawning, he waved at them. "What are you looking at?"

Suddenly, two of the ANBU seemed to be almost thrown aside as a pink haired kunoichi dived at Sasuke. Sakura knocked him over as Naruto laughed.

"Uh, yeah. Good to see you too Sakura. A little much though, don't you think?" Sasuke asked.

* * *

Sorry if there wasn't as much Naruto in it as you might want, but I needed to take care of a few things. I don't think I'll be getting another chapter out before the 4th, but hey, ya never know. 


	4. Chapter 4

Promises

By Lochar

Chapter 4

* * *

Naruto flipped in mid-air, skidding backwards a few feet when he landed. He looked at Sasuke, who was just standing there watching him, three tomoe Sharingan eyes staring at him.

"Where's all the power you had during our fight, Naruto? The power you used to bring me back here? You said you would all help me, but you're no where near what you were there." Sasuke said. His tone was questioning, but there didn't seem to be any malice in it.

Naruto answered ruefully. "Yeah, well, it's not like I've got any training on blowing open Celestial Gates. And it wasn't what I was meaning to do, either." He laughed slightly.

"Celestial Gates?" Sasuke asked, curiosity in his voice.

Sakura watching from the side, gasped. Both boys looked at her. "That's what Lee-kun did when he fought the Sand ninja, Gaara. He opened a bunch of his gates and nearly killed him."

Sasuke nodded and then looked back to Naruto. "I understand where you got the power from then, but if that was not your original intention, what was dobe?"

"Teme, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Naruto sat down next to Sakura. "And I'm not sure I'd believe it if I didn't already know about it."

"Huh?" Was the intelligent reply from the other two members of Team 7.

_**You might as well tell them about me, kit. Better they know now than seeing you change in the middle of a battle.**_

_You sure, Kyuubi?_

_**Yes. If they are to fight with you, they will need to know your abilities. I have no use for allies that can't keep up because they were caught off guard because you did something unexpected. And neither should you, since it could get you killed.**_

"Konoha to dobe, come in dobe." Sasuke said.

Naruto blinked, not realizing he'd zoned out when the Kyuubi had talked to him. "Sorry. Just listening to someone."

"Do you need your head examined, Naruto?" Sakura asked. "Listening to voices no one else hears isn't good."

"Nah, this is a real voice." Naruto grinned at her, then looked at Sasuke. "You won't believe me, but I'll tell you anyways." He motioned for the other boy to sit down.

Sasuke did so, sitting across from both Naruto and Sakura.

Naruto looked at his teammates. "You guys remember the stories about the Kyuubi no kitsune attacking Konoha?"

They both nodded. "It was right before I was born, actually." Sakura said.

"That day is my birthday." Naruto told them. "But you know what happened, right?"

"The Yondiame fought and defeated it, destroying it." Sasuke said.

"Eh," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "not exactly. The Fourth Hokage did defeat the Kyuubi, but he didn't destroy him."

"But you can't just defeat something like that and make it leave!" Sakura said. "It killed the Yondiame, so it would have just returned. The Kyuubi has to be dead."

"He couldn't kill it, apparently. So he did the next best thing." Naruto looked between the two of them. "He sealed it up, putting it's soul into a newborn baby."

The tomoes in Sasuke's eyes were whirling rapidly. "And you said your birthday was that day. Do you expect us to believe that you are the Kyuubi then?"

"No, the Kyuubi is sealed inside me. I'm the container for it, so it can't get loose." Naruto explained. "I've got my own soul, it's just that the Fourth had to have something to put the Kyuubi in. I was born that day, so I guess I got chosen."

"Not that I believe you, but let's say I do Naruto." Sakura started. "If you weren't trying to open your Celestial Gates during your fight, you were trying to do something with the Kyuubi in you?"

"Yeah, I was trying to break part of the seal. The Kyuubi said he'd give me enough power to defeat you, Sasuke, and then I could bring you back. Something messed up though, and the demon chakra blew open my gates instead."

Before Naruto could explain any further, Sakura reached over and cracked him upside the head, making him eat dirt. Pulling himself up, he glared at her. "What'd you do that for?"

Sakura glowered at him. "Let me explain this in little words. You. Were. Going. To. Break. The. Demon's. Seal. If you actually do have the Kyuubi in you, what was preventing it from trying to kill everyone?"

"He promised he can't leave my body because of the seal used. And I can't break that part of the seal." Naruto nearly yelled back at her.

"Did you ever stop to think, that it's a demon. I can very easily see it lying." Sasuke added.

"Ghaa!" Naruto just fell onto his back. "Whatever. Baa-chan said I was OK, and ero-sennin didn't see anything wrong with the seal either, minus what I did break. They both said that nothing could break the part of the seal that could let the Kyuubi out of my body, that wouldn't kill me and the Kyuubi."

"Tsunade-sama knows about this?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded.

Sakura stood up, brushing herself off. "I think I'll go confirm this then. And if you're lying, you're dying Naruto." That said, she jumped into a tree and left the training ground.

Turning back to Sasuke, Naruto asked him a question. "You believe me?"

"I don't disbelieve you, but I have seen nothing to prove you are telling the truth." Sasuke looked at him. A slow grin came over his face. "You said you did break part of the seal though?"

Not sure where he was going with this, Naruto nodded. "Yeah."

"Then you should be able to call on some of the Kyuubi's power. That is what you broke it for in the first place, correct?" Sasuke stood, tomoe spinning in his eyes again.

Remembering what the Kyuubi had told him, Naruto shrugged. "Something like that."

"Then let's go again. And this time, use everything you've got against me. I want to see exactly how I stack up against this demon of yours." Sasuke stood up, settling back into his fighting stance.

Naruto stood as well. "No Chidori or my Rasengan though. Those things kill, and I'd really rather we not try to do that again."

A dark chuckle from Sasuke and a nod was all he got.

_Kyuubi? Is it different to get your chakra now?_

_**No, but I'd rather you not. I think this would be a good time to show your teammate your own ability, not mine.**_

Two handseals flashed in front of Naruto, dazing him for a moment.

_**Mold as much chakra as you can and do those seals. Those eyes of his cannot copy them, as the first one requires demonic chakra to use. This is the only seal you will be able to use, with the amount of demonic chakra your body has.**_

_OK, but what does it do?_

_**It will gather all of the human chakra in your body and release it for your use. Something akin to opening your gates, but not as powerful. It will channel it through your Initial Gate which is much larger since it is now demonic. You will be able to use all your human chakra at once if you so choose, but afterwards you will be left with only demonic chakra until you rest. And you cannot use that chakra for any of your Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. It will only increase your own body's strength and speed.**_

_Right. What do I call it?_

_**Why must you call it anything? I have never understood the human need to call out attacks. It just alerts the enemy to your position and the coming attack. If you must call it something, call it Chakra Release. But please, don't shout it kit.**_

_Alright, alright._

Putting his hands together in the seal he'd seen flash before him, he held it there long enough for Sasuke to get a good look at it. He then switched to the second, more familiar seal before whispering "Chakra Release!"

To Sasuke, the slight glow that he saw of Naruto's chakra seem to become a brilliant light blue light, nearly blinding him before his eyes adjusted. Now Naruto seemed to be brimming with chakra, more than he'd ever seen someone use at once. _I wonder what this attack does. It must be insanely powerful. Perfect for use against Itachi._ The partial cursed seal on his shoulder twinged. _And protecting those that are still here._

Naruto brought his hands up into one more seal, this one was one that Sasuke had seen his teammate use many times before.

But the expected shout didn't come. Instead, he barely saw Naruto mouth something.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto harshly whispered, feeding all the chakra that the Chakra Release had given him to his favorite technique.

Immediately, the whole training ground seemed to shimmer. Sasuke's eyes widened. This was even more shadow clones than he'd used against Gaara. There had to be several thousand clones all around him, and each seemed to have the power that Naruto had before he'd used his new technique.

Grinning, Sasuke looked around. "That's more like it, dobe. Let's play." Looking back to where Naruto had stood, he was surprised to see he knew which one it was. The original Naruto's chakra aura had changed. The blue of his chakra had deepened in color, almost to a blue-black color.

Naruto held up a hand to show nails that had grown to be over an inch long and looked deadly sharp. The blond haired ninja's blue eyes had become vertically slitted, and the chakra seemed to be creating wisps of energy from behind him, lashing back and forth almost as if he had a tail made of pure chakra.

"Now, Sasuke, my brother, let's spar."

With that, several dozen of the clones from all around the training grounds jumped at him, along with the original Naruto.

As Naruto fought with his clones, a roaring laughter filled his mind.

_**I give you a rule, and you don't just bend it to suit your needs, you break it in the way that benefits you the most! You make a fine kitsune, my kit. Trickster to the end, following no rules but your own. You hand over all the human chakra to your clones and fight with your demonic part, allowing them to do the Jutsu for you.**_

And Sasuke got that as a surprise, as one of the clones turned one of his own techniques against him. Making several hand seals, the clone breathed in, and then shot out a giant ball of fire. The clone disappeared, all of it's chakra used up but the ball of fire kept moving towards Sasuke.

Jumping over it, Sasuke warily looked over the huge group he was against.

"Interesting, dobe. I didn't know they could use Jutsu. They're about as strong as you were earlier, so beating them isn't hard-"

He was interrupted by a hit into his back, catapulting his off the tree branch and into the waiting crowd below. Sasuke quickly dispatched enough of the to give himself so room before looking up, seeing the darker aura of the real Naruto standing where he'd been.

"Yeah, but you still have to keep an eye open for me, Sasuke." Naruto jumped down to attack as well.

Naruto grinned as his clones were easily destroyed, some of them sacrificing themselves to do a Jutsu, others dispatched with a direct hit against them by Sasuke.

The next surprise he gave Sasuke was appearing in front of him, throwing a punch directly at his gut. Sasuke saw this and grabbed his wrist, intent on throwing him. Surging his demonic chakra, Naruto ignored the tugs against his wrist and connected with Sasuke, sending him flying across the training grounds to fall against more clones that cushioned his fall before they disappeared.

Sasuke jumped up, grabbing one of the clones and swinging it around, using it as a weapon against the other clones before it disappeared itself.

The next time Naruto tried the same trick, Sasuke grabbed hold of his wrist and flipped himself over Naruto, kicking him in the back of the head, sending him flying into a tree.

Naruto groggily stood up, shaking the stars out from his eyes as he turned, grinning.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?" a familiar voice shouted, and Naruto turned to see who it was.

And watched as his clones were thrown left and right, Tsunade wading through them looking for the real him.

The clones still far enough away from Tsunade looked at each other, nodded, and then turned to the original Naruto. Blowing him a raspberry, they vanished filling the grounds with smoke that quickly dissipated.

Naruto paled as she walked up to him. "What did you do to yourself, Naruto?" Tsunade shook her head. "Never mind, just undo it. You've managed to draw the attention of several ANBU squads and the rest of your year's rookies. I would rather they not find out the hard way about your companion."

Naruto looked and was surprised to see Teams 8 and 9 standing there, along with a number of masked ANBU. Several of the ANBU looked ready to attack. Naruto wasn't sure if they wanted to attack him or Sasuke, but they looked to mean business.

"Sorry, baa-chan, but I can't. I burned too much chakra and I've gotta wait to regain it before I can."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "How long?"

_**Two days, at a maximum.**_

Naruto's voice got quiet. "He says a couple of days at the worst."

Tsunade's voice got louder. "You've got two days to figure out what you did to yourself before I send you to the hospital to have them attempt to undo it. I don't want you using experimental Jutsu during a sparring match, if you must use them, it should be for a more important reason."

"Two days, got it Baa-chan. I'll have it all back to normal by then." Naruto gave a foxy grin to the Godaime, before turning to leave.

Before he could take a step, he felt to fingers touch the back of his head. Naruto stopped, confused. Then he felt a third finger flick his head. And as he sailed towards the tree again, he heard Tsunade's voice call out. "And don't call me that, Naruto."


	5. Chapter 5

Promises ch. 5

by Lochar

A/N: Ya know, I don't think I had any plot development in the last chapter. Let's see what I can do to fix that. Also, I wrote this when I should have been writing a paper for school.

* * *

Naruto grinned across the open field at his opponent. Wiping some sweat from his eyes, he laughed. "That all you got, Uchiha?" 

His dark-haired opponent stared back at him, Sharingan tomoes spinning as he kept watch. "Not on your life, Uzumaki."

Before either of them could begin anew, they heard a shudder from the brush. Both turned, facing what might be a new threat.

They relaxed slightly when the white haired old man stepped out.

"Ero-sennin! What do you want?" Naruto yelled at him. He sat down in the grass, knowing that his fight with Sasuke was now postponed for a while.

"Actually, I was here to find out if you wanted to be my apprentice." Jiraiya said.

Naruto jumped back up. "Really!"

"Yes, and if you want to be, we leave tomorrow. Meet at the gates at nine." He said, before turning around to leave.

"And what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

The boy in question sat down next to Naruto, watching the old man quietly.

"The village elders aren't going to let him leave. They want him near Tsunade in case something goes wrong with the seal." Jiraiya said, turning back around to face them.

"Then I'm not leaving. What happens if Orochimaru or his brother comes around here?"

"What, you think I'm weak dobe?" Sasuke glared at Naruto.

Naruto turned, confused. "Huh? No, you're not. But they're stronger than either one of us. It's gonna take both of us to beat the hell out of them. We're a team, remember?"

Nodding, Sasuke looked at the toad Sannin. "So do I get to go on this training as well then Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya sighed and sat down as well, across from the two boys. "You do realize, Naruto, that part of the reason I was going to take you was to get you out of Konoha and out of sight of Akatsuki."

"So we stay here, and between all of us, they're not going to brave enough to come after us." Naruto grinned at the idea.

"You're not going to leave without him, are you Naruto?" Jiraiya half asked, half stated.

"I wouldn't go without Naruto, had you offered me, Jiraiya-sama." Sasuke said. "We're best friends. Hell, brothers in all but blood."

"Right!" Naruto yelled, looking between them.

Jiraiya looked at them, sighing to himself. "Well, at least you're more respectful than this brat." He motioned towards Naruto. "But we can't go far from the village without raising a major ruckus. Maybe a half day out."

He stood up, looking at his two new students. "I will see you both at the gates tomorrow morning then." He then walked away back through the bushes.

"Good-bye, Jiraiya-sensei." Sasuke said.

"Later, ero-sennin!" Naruto yelled at the retreating man. He then looked back at Sasuke. "So, how about we finish that match?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Jiraiya-sensei isn't like Kakashi, is he?" Sasuke asked.

Both boys were leaning against the wall outside the gate.

"Well, he's not always late like Kakashi is." Naruto said. "But."

"But?" Sasuke asked, dreading the answer.

"He does write those books that Kakashi reads, so expect him to drop what he's doing if he sees a pretty girl."

Sasuke let out a long, suffering sigh. "Must all adults be such perverts?"

"I'll have you know, I'm a Super Pervert!" Jiraiya said, appearing in a puff of smoke in front of them.

"Every one of them I've met has been." Naruto said, ignoring the old man. "Even Sandaime was."

"I guess that's what we have to look forward to then. I pity us." Sasuke, looking at his sensei.

Jiraiya was now twitching, before he composed himself. "Anyways, follow me. Tsunade said we have to return once a week so that she can give you a clean bill of health Sasuke and not throw the elders into a conniption." Jiraiya jumped into the trees, his students following closely behind.

After a few hours of quiet traveling, Jiraiya spoke. "This is your first lesson. Mainly for you Sasuke, but you need to listen as well Naruto."

Both boys nodded.

"Anything you've used against him in the past, expect to see it used against you in the future. Including the Chidori, as you used the seals to activate it in front of him."

"Damn it." Sasuke quietly cursed.

"He was also an ANBU before deserting Konoha, so he knows most of the ninjutsu that either of you could learn from the Jounin-sensei."

"So he can climb trees and walk on water. It'd have been nice if Kakashi would have taught us something else useful, instead of just working on stamina and control." Naruto said.

Jiraiya started, almost missing his next jump. "Excuse me?"

"Until he trained me for the Chuunin exam, he usually just left the three of us to practice ourselves, with him just giving us bits of advice occasionally. He usually just read his books." Sasuke explained. "And my training for the exam was me activating my Sharingan, and then he showed me Chidori and Lee's taijutsu style. Then it was back to stamina work."

Nearly growling, Jiraiya nodded. "Nothing to do about it now, I guess."

"You're not much better, ero-sennin. You always go off after girls and leave me alone." Naruto shouted at him.

"But I left you something to work on, remember? I didn't give you vague ideas on what to do to get stronger. I gave you a move that you had to practice to learn." Jiraiya shot back.

He then dropped out of the trees into an large, open clearing. Both Sasuke and Naruto followed.

"Anyways, here is where we will be training for the next few weeks."

Naruto looked around, before looking back at his sensei. "So, what are we going to do?"

Jiraiya looked at Sasuke, who had already activated his Sharingan in anticipation. "First thing, turn that off."

Sasuke looked shocked, but let his eyes fade back to normal.

"Several of the things I'm going to be teaching you don't have seals, so you can't just memorize them. And anything that does have seals, you will be learning the regular way. You learn them better that way, and you will be able to use it more effectively."

"Really?" Sasuke asked, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Really." Jiraiya closed his eyes, bringing his hands up into a seal. So quiet that neither boy could hear what he said, he released the jutsu and opened his eyes.

Sasuke jumped back, kunai nearly flying into his hands. There before him, Jiraiya had the Mangekyō Sharingan. "Genjutsu?" His own Sharingan activated, but nothing about Jiraiya changed. "Itachi, you brought us out here unaware. I'll kill you."

Before he could attack, the Sharingan faded from Jiraiya who laughed. "A simple Henge, applied only to my eyes instead of to my whole body. You didn't know it was possible, and it was so simple that your Sharingan didn't bother to see through it. And yet look at the reaction I got from you."

Sasuke sat down hard. "Well, if you had been Itachi, Jiraiya-sensei, I would have had the pleasure of watching Naruto's attack go through your back."

Jiraiya turned around, to see Naruto had stopped only a few feet away from him, Rasengan in hand, ready to attack. There were two gouges in the earth where Naruto had dug in to stop from hitting him. "Well." He laughed again, this time much more nervous. "I guess you two have team attacks down."

Naruto calmly walked outside of the clearing, Rasengan still spinning in his hand. Both people left in the clearing winced as the watched a relatively large oak fall to the ground. Naruto came back into the clearing, smiling.

"So, now what?" He asked.

"We start with learning how to manipulate a jutsu after it's already been created." Jiraiya said. "We'll start with Henge, as you can't hurt yourself if it backfires."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Henge!" Voices rang out over the clearing a few days later, as the two genin seemed to switch places.

"Eyes only." Jiraiya said.

They closed their eyes, struggling. Slowly but surely, the illusion started to waver. Feet and then legs returned to their original owner. After a few minutes, they both looked at their sensei, Sharingan staring out from Naruto's face while Sasuke had bright blue eyes.

"Good. Now, without dropping it, add the right arm." Jiraiya leaned back, watching.

Both boys concentrated. Faces wavering as the Henge tried to slowly return to normal, first Sasuke then Naruto managed to swap right arms, before taking control back over and then both stood there, only eyes and arm switched.

"Good, good. Only took ten minutes. You can drop the Henge now."

Both boys dropped to the ground after releasing the change, panting.

"Why is this so tiring, Jiraiya-sensei?" Sasuke asked, noticing that Naruto was as tired out as he was. "And if it's this hard to do with just a Henge, wouldn't something even harder be worthless in battle?"

"It's about control. Once you use the jutsu, you normally just release control and feed it more chakra if it's required. Now you have to control the chakra once it's already been activated and used. Naruto has a little more experience, because of the Rasengan, but both of you need to learn the control." Jiraiya thought for a moment. "If you two want to use it on battle moves, go ahead. It might be a little easier."

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Yes! Now, what do I wanna do?" Naruto thought for a moment.

"You should have enough control to create a one handed Rasengan now, Naruto. Once you can do that, switch it between hands." Jiraiya suggested.

"And do I get to learn this technique as well?" Sasuke asked, watching as Naruto's face screwed up in concentration.

Jiraiya shook his head. "I don't think you'd do well with it. The Uchiha are more fire based."

"And yet my strongest move is a lightning one." Sasuke reminded him.

"Then work with that. See how well you can spread the Chidori down your arm. It would be very interesting if you could turn the attack from an assassination move into a defensive one. A field of lightning protecting the body from taijutsu." Jiraiya started talking to himself, thinking it over.

Sasuke's eyes lit up, images of a certain person trying to pin or throw him, only to be struck with the force of a lightning bolt. Quickly forming the handseals for Chidori, the field was filled with the sound of chirping birds.

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So, what do ya think? Read and review! 


	6. Chapter 6

Promises Ch 6

By Lochar

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Want it, but don't own it.

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"Why would he give us a two day break all of a sudden?" Sasuke wondered out loud as he and Naruto walked calmly through Konoha. 

"After a month of no 'research' he's probably dying to go peeping again." Naruto told him, looking up at the sky.

"If he's as big a pervert as you said, why did it take this long?"

"Baa-chan probably threatened him to actually train us." Naruto got a grin on his face. "Let's go mess up his 'research!'"

Sasuke looked doubtful. "Why not just enjoy the time off, instead of making a nuisance of yourself again dobe?"

"Bah! What do you know? This is fun enjoyable stuff! What, are you afraid he's not going to train you anymore if you mess with him, teme?" Naruto said, attempting to goad his friend into helping.

"Fine! Where would he be?"

"The hot springs, where else?" Naruto answered. "Come on, let's go!" Naruto tore off, leaving Sasuke shaking his head before starting to walk after him.

"Ah, Uchiha-san, I found you at last." A voice said from behind him.

Sasuke turned around to find an unknown ninja standing there, leaning against a wall. "What do you want?"

Pushing himself off the wall, he smirked. "I've been sent to collect you."

Growling, Sasuke turned away from him, intent on walking off. "My appointment with the Council and the Hokage isn't until tomorrow. Come back then and get me if you must."

"Ah, but I'm not here from the old lady or the windbags."

Sasuke turned back around, wary now. "Then..."

Black patterns started crawling across the ninja's skin. "Orochimaru-sama sent me to find out what is keeping his vessel from coming to him." The lines stopped, not going into the second level of the Curse Seal. "And to bring you back, forcefully, if required."

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again. The Sharingan stared out at him. "And when I send your pieces back to the snake, who shall I tell him it is?"

"You may refer to me as Kanbaro, new Sound of the North Wall."

Sasuke dashed forward, hands quickly forming seals.

Kanbaro frowned as Sasuke barely even mouthed the words to his attack. Bird and rabbit usually meant a Katon attack...

"Katon: Grand Fireball" Sasuke whispered, before sucking in a deep breath and then breathing out the huge ball of fire.

Kanbaro calmly jumped over the attack, only to see Sasuke watching him.

Sasuke cut off the attack the moment he saw the Sound ninja, ending the source of energy for the fireball. He winced as he saw from the corner of his eye the damage to a house from the single attack. _Damn it. I can't use big attacks here. Gotta get him away._

Sasuke had to jump back, as several kunai attempted to embed themselves in his body.

"Tsk tsk, Uchiha-san. It is no wonder you require Orochimaru-san's seal if that is the best you can do without it."

Sasuke growled, but didn't attack. Making two more handseals, he quickly switched himself with a roof tile quite a ways away, towards where Naruto had run off. _Dobe and Jiraiya-sensei should be at the hot springs. Much easier to deal with this guy without destroying Konoha if we can gang up on him._

Quickly jumping across the roofs, Sasuke had made it almost three quarters of the way before he heard a voice.

"Ano, Uchiha-san, but I don't believe running away will solve anything."

Sasuke turned, kicking out. His leg was easily caught and then pushed away.

"Orochimaru-sama made me Seeker of Seals. I can sense your seal."

Sasuke frowned. His seal was broken, how could he have found him them.

"Imagine my surprise when I felt your seal in two different locations then." Kanbaro grinned wickedly. "Of course, I had to end up dealing with the other one. Did they take part of it from you? Is that why you are so weak now?"

"Sakura..." Sasuke trailed off, before glaring at Kanbaro.

"Ah, such a wonderful killing intent. Do not worry about losing your seal. Orochimaru can fix that for you. And I left the little kunoichi either dead or dying, so you don't have to worry about that."

"I will kill you." Sasuke told the ninja. "You, as of now, have lost all right to life."

Sasuke caught a glimpse of an orange figure, before it slammed into Kanbaro.

Naruto's chakra was visible, wavering around him as he held onto Kanbaro. "You.did.what?" He squeezed, clawed hands starting to carve into the Sound ninja.

Sasuke growled. "He claims to have killed Sakura, Naruto." Slowly, deliberately, Sasuke made three handseals. The air around him started crackling. "Hold him still, I want to make sure this hurts."

Naruto grabbed him with both hands now, before spinning him around to put his back to Sasuke. Staring into the ninja's eyes with his own slitted ones, Naruto grinned darkly. "Goodbye." He tightened his grip on the ninja's shoulders, the pressure keeping him from forming seals.

As the screaming sound of the Chidori got closer, Kanbaro grinned. "Goodbye." The cursed seal marks spread across his skin, before Naruto lost his grip on the ninja right as the Chidori plunged through him, meeting no resistance and going through Naruto's stomach.

"I am a shadow walker, able to become a shadow myself." He turned in place, Sasuke's arm doing nothing. "And Uchiha-san, look at you. Killed your own teammate."

Sasuke stared at Naruto. Naruto blinked for a moment, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"I think not." Sasuke said, before pulling his hand back. "Now, how to kill you?"

Naruto landed silently beside him, chakra swirling around him. "I suggest total overkill."

"Ah, but how do you expect to hit me?" The shadow Kanbaro smirked. "You cannot hit me."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, tomoe swirling. "I remember what it was like in that level of the Cursed Seal. You will either have to attack and thus make yourself attackable soon, or drop it. Otherwise it will eat you alive."

"Regrettably, you are right, Uchiha-san." Kanbaro's form rushed at them. Sasuke attempted to grab his arm, only to go through it. Then he felt the impact of the punch on his chest knocking him back. Kanbaro then spun, leg flying out and passing through Naruto's block and kicking him away as well. "But I can solidify myself at any time I choose, hitting you without you hitting me."

Both boys stood up. "That almost hurt." Sasuke said, looking over at Naruto.

"Speak for yourself. I barely felt it." Naruto grinned, before facing the Sound ninja. "I think I hurt myself more this morning packing kunai."

Sasuke slipping into a fighting stance. "How'd you manage to hurt yourself with kunai, dobe?"

Naruto shook his head. "I didn't, teme."

"If you want to die, so be it. I was allowing you the chance to run away and leave Uchiha-san to me so I may take him to Orochimaru-san." Kanbaro made two hand seals. "Underworld Shadows!"

The shadow that was Kanbaro seem to spread out, until it encompassed the area and surrounded both Naruto and Sasuke.

"Big deal, it got dark." Naruto said. "Interesting, but just because we can't see doesn't mean we can't still kick your ass!"

"Ah, but how to find me?" Kanbaro's voice seemed to whisper from everywhere at once. "And attacking it much easier this way. Darkness spike!"

Naruto screamed as he felt something pierce his shoulder. "Alright, that's it!" _Willing to lend me your chakra, Kyuubi?_

_**You are not in need of it yet, kit. Beyond healing you, that is. Stand on your own two feet first, and if you truly require it, I will help you.**_

Naruto nodded as he felt his shoulder heal almost immediately. Holding out his hand, Naruto forced his chakra to start spinning. It took on a physical ball shape.

The chakra seemed to generate enough light that he could see Sasuke standing next to him. "Hey, let's blow this place up."

Sasuke grinned back at him, before forming his own seals. "Chidori." He said, as the chirping birds sounded again. The glow from his own attack gave him enough illumination to see by. "I got left, you got right?"

"Sounds good to me." Naruto said.

Both boys dashed off in opposite directions, attack held in the ready position.

"I think not!" Kanbaro's voice sounded louder now. "Darkness Spike!" Naruto bit down on his lip as he felt another spike pierce him, this time through the hand holding his Rasengan. His hand pulled down, hitting below him and blowing the ground up.

Behind him, he felt the chakra that Sasuke had gathered fade as well. Standing, Naruto felt his hand heal. Then he felt someone bump against him. He turned to attack, only stopping after the first blow when he sensed it was Sasuke.

"How?" both asked, knowing they'd not been anywhere near each other only moments ago.

"In my realm of darkness and shadow, I control all. Only Uchiha-san shall leave alive after agreeing to go to Orochimaru-sama." Kanbaro calmly stated.

"Naruto."

"Huh?"

Sasuke put his back against Naruto's. "Do your Rasengan again. With everything you've got, got it?"

Catching Sasuke's meaning, Naruto formed two seals. "Chakra Release!" He said, feeling all the human chakra in his body rise up. The changes to his body came as well, claws, teeth, slitted eyes. Forcing all of the chakra through his hand he felt the tenketsu point there shake at the energy being released. The orb appeared again, this time a bright ball of swirling chakra. "Ready here."

"Naruto. Even if this works, you may have to stop me anyways."

"What do you mean." Naruto asked calmly, as he looked around.

"You'll see. When I attack, you do the same. We know we're standing on something, so we can at least attack there."

Naruto felt Sasuke shift, forming seals. The thousand of chirping birds sounded again, but Sasuke did nothing yet.

Sasuke felt deep inside himself. His Sharingan could copy any technique that used seals, true. But it did not give the user the true abilities required to use the technique. When he'd first learned Chidori from Kakashi, along with the technique he'd gained the chakra control necessary to use it. But only for as long as he was using it.

Now, thanks to Jiraiya-sensei's training he had more than enough control required to do it on his own. Feeling his own chakra coils, he started adding more energy into the Chidori.

The lightning coming off of Sasuke's hand started jumping a bit before calming down.

Sasuke left just enough chakra in his coils to survive this attack. He felt a block though, leading to the broken seal on his shoulder. _I will not use the seal to gain more power for this attack. But can I use the chakra anyways?_ Reaching, Sasuke forced himself past the block, cutting off the seal as he drew in the chakra.

"Ah, so you finally accede to the need for Orochimaru's help, Uchiha-san?" Kanbaro's tone was now interested.

Naruto felt the pulse of the deadly chakra, but not the mad intent that Sasuke had given off at the Valley of the End.

The bird sounds of the Chidori attack no longer sounded like they were chirping. Now it sounded like there were millions screaming in defiance. "The snake may have put that power into my body, but I will not let him control how I use it." Sasuke yelled out over the sounds. "Naruto, NOW!"

"_CHIDORI!" "RASENGAN!"_

The two attacks hit the only solid thing they knew of . The ground below them. With a violent rumble, the two overpowered attacks drilled through the shadows below them until they saw the shadows crack.

The shadows below them shattered and the cracks spread throughout the whole area before shattering themselves.

The boys found themselves in the middle of a destroyed home, Kanbaro standing across from them, shock on his face. "H-How?" he asked, before falling over, the seals pulling back and no sign of life coming from him.

Sasuke turned. "Naruto."

Naruto turned in time to catch Sasuke as he fell.

"Hospital." Sasuke said quietly, struggling with the words. "Have to.find out.about.Sakura."

"You need it too, brother." Naruto said to the unconscious boy. After quickly checking to see if there was anyone in the building, Naruto moved as fast as he could towards the Konoha hospital.

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So, what'd you think? Read and review and all that jazz.  



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